Years active: 1991 - present (started around 16 years old; 33 years in the business)
About Shilpa Shetty
Shilpa Shetty started her career as a model while in high school during her late teenage years, appearing in advertisements for Limca and others. In 1992, she signed on to do her first Hindi film, but the film was never released, which made the next film she worked on in 1993, Baazigar her first film release. In Baazigar, she was cast alongside Hindi film superstar Shah Rukh Khan and the film was a superhit, establishing Shilpa as one of the top actresses in India during the 90s and into the 2000s. She was known mainly for her beauty and sex appeal, dancing, as well as comedic talents, but she has proven she has some serious acting chops as well.
Shilpa gained international fame when she became a contestant in January 2007 on British reality television series Celebrity Big Brother 5. She was the first Indian celebrity included in the show. The show gained international controversy because Shilpa Shetty was subjected to heavy racism from some of her fellow contestants on screen on multiple occasions, often driving the actress to tears. She ultimately went on to become the winner. This lead to further international exposure with western media covering her more as a celebrity than any Indian celebrity had received before, doing multiple interviews and photos for magazines, paving the way for future Indian celebrities who gained international fame such as Priyanka Chopra.
In 2007 she released her own yoga DVD which became quite popular as this was in the earlier days of the western yoga craze.
Currently, Shilpa film career isn't as active as in decades past, but she's been a constant presence on social media, gaining millions of followers, and expressing her joys of family life and being a mother of two children. She continues to upload yoga tutorial videos as well. Also, like many actors in India, she's become a frequent presence in Indian reality and variety shows.
